Sea oats named  &#39;La12-202&#39;

ABSTRACT

A new variety of sea oats identified as ‘LA12-202’ is disclosed as being genetically different from ‘Caminada’, and as being tall; having a vigorous growth habit; high stem density; large stem diameter and leaf width; large spikelets with numerous florets per spikelet; many panicles per plant; and flowering in early- to mid-July in natural beach environments.

The development of this invention was partially funded with Hatch ActFormula Funds (Project number LAB93864) and through grants from theUnited States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food andAgriculture (Agreement numbers: 2010-34396-21191, 2009-34396-20051,2008-34396-19316, 2006-34396-17624, 2005-34396-16498).

The Government may have certain rights in this invention.

This invention pertains to a new and distinct variety of sea oats.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sea oats (Uniola paniculata L.) is a perennial rhizomatous grass nativeto beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts in the UnitedStates. It is used in numerous beach restoration projects to collectblowing sand and stabilize sand dunes, thus decreasing coastal erosion.In Louisiana, one (1) source of sea oats, identified as ‘Caminada’germplasm, is used extensively. The widespread use of a single germplasmsource can result in inferior plants being used in restoration projectsand reduce genetic variation. Inferior plants may not survive as well orproduce as vigorous or large plants as improved varieties. Reducedgenetic variation can reduce the ability of plants to adapt toenvironmental changes. ‘LA12-202’, along with ‘LA12-201’ and ‘LA12-203’,was invented to provide improved, genetically diverse sea oats varietiesfor northern Gulf of Mexico beach restoration projects.

Sea oats seeds were collected from fifty-eight (58) sea oats populationsthroughout the Atlantic and northern Gulf of Mexico coasts in 2001.Preliminary work, which preceded this invention, evaluated sea oatsgenetic diversity of a random sample of plants produced from thecollected seeds (Parami, 2003.http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=8ecded68-fed4-4583-a5f3-93985948a0fa%40sessionmgr4&hid=7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c210ZQ%3d%3d#db=cat00252a&AN=lalu.2119724 and Subudhi et al., 2005. Theor.Appl. Genet. 111:1632). In the preliminary work, no efforts were made toasexually reproduce ‘LA12-202’ for any purpose other than to provideplant material for plant performance evaluations. The new sea oatsvarieties ('LA12-201′, ‘LA12-202’ and ‘LA12-203’) were designated asvarieties and reproduced asexually beginning in 2010.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION Genus and Species Name

‘LA12-202’ is a new sea oats (Uniola paniculata L.) variety that isvigorous, has high stem density, large spikelets with numerous floretsper spikelet, and produces many panicles. ‘LA12-202’ is geneticallydifferent from ‘Caminada’ and two (2) newly developed sea oatsvarieties, ‘LA12-201’ and LA12-203’. Genetic diversity was determinedprior to variety invention using five hundred thirty four (534)Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) loci (Bertrand-Garcia etal., Euphytica 185:103). ‘LA12-202’ is recommended for beach restorationprojects in the northern Gulf of Mexico, especially Louisiana, wherevigorous and genetically different sea oats varieties that survive andperform well before and after major hurricane events are desired.

Variety Denomination

This new and distinct sea oats variety, identified as ‘LA12-202’, ischaracterized by its vigorous growth habit, dark green foliage, highstem density, large spikelets, and numerous panicles that flower earlierthan ‘Caminada’ in natural beach environments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The file of this Patent contains at least one photograph executed incolor. Copies of this Patent or Patent Application with colordrawings(s) will be provided by the US Patent and Trademark Office uponrequest and payment of the necessary fees.

FIG. 1 is a color photograph of the novel sea oats variety identified as‘LA 12-202’.

FIG. 2 is a color photograph of sea oats germplasm identified as‘Caminada’.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

‘LA12-202’ was developed from seed collected from sea oats plantsgrowing on Santa Rosa Island, Fla., (30° 23′ 43.2″ N; 86° 41′ 57.8″ W)in September of 2001. Collected seeds were germinated in a greenhouse atBaton Rouge, La. in 2003. Sea oats seedlings were transplanted to beachlocations in Louisiana and Mississippi to evaluate survival andperformance in 2003. In 2005, genotypes were selected for acceptableperformance at Holly Beach, La., and Long Beach, Miss. Stem and rhizomematerial was harvested and planted into containers in Baton Rouge, La.This asexual reproduction was used solely to multiply experimental linesfor evaluation in replicated trials and not for the asexual reproductionof the variety. Replicated trials were initiated in 2008.

In general, ‘LA12-202’ leaves are darker green [7.5 GY (5/4)] than‘Caminada’ [5 GY (5/4)] when color is determined with the MUNSELL®. Bookof Color (Munsell Color, Gretag Macbeth LLC, 617 Little Britain Road,New Windsor, N.Y. 12553-6148) (FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). ‘LA12-202’ is tallerand produces more panicles (Table 1) and has similar stem diameters,leaf widths, number of spikelets per panicle, and florets per spikeletas ‘Caminada’ (Table 1). In beach environments, ‘LA12-202’ flowers earlyto mid-July, while ‘Caminada’ flowers mid- to late July. ‘LA12-202’ isgenetically identical and stable when produced from rhizome material;however variations in plant appearance can be caused by productionconditions and does not reflect genetic differences.

TABLE 1 Spikelets Florets Number Stem Leaf per per of Variety Height(cm) Diameter (mm) Width (mm) Panicle Spikelet Panicles ‘LA12-202’ 53.6a^(†) 5.4 b 8.0 ab 278.3 a 6.3 ab 6.5 a ‘Caminada’ 41.7 b 5.2 b 7.0 b257.4 ab 5.3 b 2.5 b ‘LA12-201’ 47.8 ab 8.0 a 9.0 a 222.0 b 7.9 a 7.5 a^(†)Means within the same column that are followed by different lettersare significantly different (t test, p < 0.10).

‘LA12-202’ and ninety-five (95) additional genotypes were evaluated inreplicated beach trials at Gulfport, Miss., from 2008-2009. In 2010,‘LA12-202’ was identified as a superior cultivar. The variety ‘LA12-202’is asexually propagated in Baton Rouge, La.

Explanation of Tests Conducted

Un-Replicated Beach Trials: In 2003, a total of 1098 sea oats seedlingswere transplanted to Holly Beach (Cameron Parish), La., in un-replicatedpreliminary trials. In 2004, a total of 902 seedlings were transplantedto Long Beach (Harrison County), Miss., in un-replicated preliminarytrials. Subjective evaluations were measured twice, once per year from2004 to 2005, for plant vigor, tillering capacity and spread. Thesubjective evaluations were completed with a 0 to 10 scale, where 0indicated a plant that was dead, had no tillers, or did not spread fromoriginal transplant location, and 10 indicated a plant that wasextremely vigorous, had numerous tillers, or spread far from theoriginal transplant location. In 2005, genotypes were selected and stemand rhizome material was harvested and planted into containers at BatonRouge, La. This asexual reproduction was used solely to multiplyexperimental lines for evaluation in replicated trials and not for theasexual reproduction of the variety.

Replicated Beach Trials:

In 2008, a total of 96 clones were transplanted to Gulfport (HarrisonCounty), Miss., and evaluated from 2008 to 2009. Plant vigor wasevaluated a total of 9 times: 3 months after transplant (15 Aug. 2008);2 and 3 weeks after Hurricane Gustav made landfall (17 Sep. and 24 Sep.2008); 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 months after transplant (9 Apr., 11 May, 3June, 13 July, 4 Aug. 2009); and 1 year after Hurricane Gustav madelandfall (1 Sep. 2009). Stem density was measured as the number of stemsper 100 cm² of beach area in 2009 on 9 April, 11 May, 3 June, 13 July, 4August, and 1 September. Plant height was measured from the soil surfaceto the tallest point of the leaf canopy (cm) in 2009 on 9 April, 11 May,3 June, 13 July, 4 August, and 1 September. In 2009, the number ofspikelets per panicle was measured, and the number of florets perspikelet was determined by averaging the number of florets for 10 randomspikelets per panicle.

In 2009, the genetic similarity of ‘LA12-202’, ‘Caminada’, and 76additional genotypes was determined using 534 Amplified Fragment LengthPolymorphisms (AFLP) (Bertrand-Garcia et al., 2012. Euphytica 185:103;Knott et al., 2012. J. Plant Registrations 6:289). Jaccard similaritycoefficients were calculated to determine genetic similarity of the 534AFLP bands as al(a+b+c) where a=the number of matching present bands(“1” and “1”), b=the number of unmatched bands (“1” and “0”), and c=thenumber of unmatched bands (“0” and “1”) (Subudhi et al., 2005. Euphytica111:1632-1641).

EXAMPLE 1 Un-Replicated Beach Trials

In un-replicated beach trials at Long Beach, Miss. (described inParagraph 0013), the mean vigor and plant spread was numerically largerfor ‘LA12-202’ than the average of all genotypes tested, while thepanicle size and number for ‘LA12-202’ was numerically smaller than theaverage of all genotypes tested (Table 2).

TABLE 2 Plant Panicle Size Variety Vigor^(†) Spread^(§) and Number^(¶)‘LA12-202’ 6.0 6.0 3.5 Average 4.7 5.2 3.9 ^(†)Vigor was visuallyestimated on a scale of 0-10 (0 = dead; 10 = excellent). ^(§)Plantspread was visually estimated on a scale of 0-10 (0 = no plant spread;10 = plant spread far from original plant). ^(¶)Panicle size and numberwas visually estimated on a scale of 0-10 (0 = no panicles; 10 =numerous large panicles).

EXAMPLE 2 Replicated Beach Trials

In replicated beach trials at Gulfport, Miss., ‘LA12-202’ (described inParagraph 0014) was more vigorous, taller, and had a higher stem densitythan ‘Caminada’ (Table 3).

TABLE 3 Height Number of Stems Variety Vigor^(†) (cm) per 100 cm²‘LA12-202’ 5.2 al^(‡) 53.6 a 3.8 a ‘Caminada’ 3.7 b 41.7 b 2.7 b‘LA12-201’ 5.1 a 47.8 ab 3.9 a ^(†)Vigor was visually estimated on ascale of 0-10 (0 = dead; 10 = excellent). ^(‡)Means within the samecolumn that are followed by different letters are significantlydifferent (t test, p < 0.10).

EXAMPLE 3 Genetic Similarity Analysis

Genetic similarity of ‘LA12-202’, ‘Caminada’, and ‘LA12-201’ wasdetermined with Jaccard similarity coefficients from 534 AmplifiedFragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLP). ‘LA12-202’ and ‘LA12-201’ were theleast similar (0.9105) while ‘LA12-201’ and ‘Caminada’ were most similar(0.9258) (Table 4).

TABLE 4 Variety ‘LA12-202’ ‘Caminada’ ‘LA12-201’ ‘LA12-202’ 1.0000‘Caminada’ 0.9156 1.0000 ‘LA12-201’ 0.9105 0.9258 1.0000

We claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of Uniola paniculata named‘LA12-202’ as described and illustrated in the specification herein.